The invention concerns an armchair with a seat surface, and, in particular, to such an armchair in which the seat can swivel between a sitting position and a reclining position, for which the seat surface can be displaced to the rear.
Such armchairs are familiar and are also known as sitting and reclining furniture. They allow an adjustment of the position between a “normal” upright sitting position and a reclining position leaning backward and, in some circumstances, far backward, e.g., almost horizontally oriented.
In the reclining position, an additional leg rest can be pivoted forward/upward. The distance between the front edge of the seat surface and the floor, may limit the size of the leg rest. To solve this problem, pull-out leg rests are used, being activated by scissors lever systems, Bowden cable controls, or the like.
For such an armchair, disclosed in DE 296 00 282 U1, it is necessary to press against the armrests to make an adjustment by moving the seat surface, since there is a system of parallel linkages, which moves the body weight or the center of gravity to the rear along with the seat surface when the latter is shifted. The leg rest is connected to the system of parallel linkages such that it extends and retracts during the swiveling. Moreover, the leg rest comes in two parts, in order to create a longer support surface despite small structural size in the retracted condition. The system of parallel linkages requires a relatively large structural height and a toggle mechanism is needed to change the inclination of the seat surface during its movement. A retraction cable is provided to pull in the extended part of the leg rest during the retraction.
DE 198 30 418 A1 discloses an armchair in which the seat element is arranged so that it can be displaced to the rear in relation to the lower frame and it is coupled to the backrest by means of connection, and the backrest is joined to the seat element and the lower frame by adjustment means which can make changes in the angle of tilt of the backrest regardless of the position of the seat surface. Moreover, the foot support is coupled to the lower frame and the seat surface so that it swings forward/upward when the seat surface is moved to the rear. For this, the foot support is coupled to the lower frame and the seat surface by a scissors system arranged on the inside behind or beneath the foot support. As with the armchair known from DE 296 00 282 U1, a Bowden cable control is provided, which is used to shift the plate elements of a double plate arrangement relative to each other.
An armchair is disclosed in DE 20 2005 000 136 U1, whose seat surface consists of a tubular frame, the side tubes being mounted between double roller arrangements provided front and rear, so that the seat surface can shift horizontally.
DE 44 30 303 A1 discloses a seat furniture with fold-out leg support, in which the seat surface swivels upward when the leg support is swung out, to increase the clear height beneath the seat part, so that the leg support can be swiveled out despite having greater length than the clear height. For this, the seat part is articulated with a seat link of the frame near the back piece and the leg support is articulated by one end to a knee link directly on the seat part and they are coupled together so that the seat part can be lifted automatically into intermediate positions during the extension and retraction by swiveling about the seat link on the side of its knee link opposite the floor space.
DE 37 18 645 A1 likewise discloses a sitting furniture with swing-out foot support, in which the foot support can swivel between a folded-out end position basically flush with the seat part and an end position at least partly retracted beneath the seat part. The leg support consists of a thigh part and, articulating with this, a calf or foot part. These are connected by driving and gearing means which are coupled together. In an intermediate position of the fold-out process, the thigh part and the foot part make an acute angle. The driving and gearing means have a coupler mechanism, which comprises a thigh rocker, a foot coupler, and intermediate elements. The thigh rocker is connected to the thigh part and articulated to a seat link fastened to the frame. The foot coupler is connected to the foot part and articulated to a knee link of the thigh rocker. The intermediate elements are connected together at a shared link. One intermediate element is articulated to a guide link of the thigh rocker and the other intermediate element to an extension link of the foot coupler in the vicinity of the knee link. The foot coupler has a lever projecting beyond the extension link at the side opposite the knee link, forming the free end of the foot part. The shared link is in a stable position in both end positions under the action of a holding element.
A mechanism for an armchair is disclosed in WO 2004/034849 A1, which allows for swiveling and, at the same time, pulling out the leg rest by displacing the seat surface to the rear, being situated roughly perpendicularly downward in the retracted condition. For this, the mechanism contains an essentially secured linear extension element, being connected to the frame and pivoted on the leg rest, and a pivoting linear extension element, which is firmly connected to the leg rest and pivoted on the essentially secured linear extension element. The extension elements are configured as telescoping profile rails. One part of the essentially secured profile rail is connected to the frame and the other part pivoted on the leg rest. One part of the pivoting profile rail is pivoted accordingly on the frame and the other part, being firmly connected to the leg rest, is pivoted on the part of the essentially secured profile rail that is pivoted to the leg rest. Also, when the seat surface is displaced, the essentially secured profile rail is changed in its orientation by a parallelogram-like lever system, so that an armchair construction is achieved enabling a smooth and harmonic motion as well as gentle swiveling of the leg rest, despite having a simple and stable construction.
However, in the retracted condition, the leg rest of the design disclosed in WO 2004/034849 A1 is only positioned roughly perpendicular downwards. Thus, a light, elegant overall appearance of the armchair is not fully achieved. Also, the extension and swiveling mechanism may not be easy in operation.